25 Sep Are You A Workaholic? Take Back Your Life

This blog post was written by Recovery Help Now’s, Cindy Nigro, Registered MFTi.

There is a crucial difference between being a hard worker and being a workaholic.  The distinction comes down to boundaries. You can love your work without being a workaholic. You can be dedicated, driven, and successful without it being a problem.  The problem arises when you start to neglect the other important things in your life.  How Do You Tell the Difference?  Some common areas that workaholics neglect are:

– Relationships
– Sleep
– Exercise
– Hobbies and Interests
– Vacations and Downtime

Hard workers don’t neglect these things. Hard workers embrace these as priorities.  If you feel like you don’t have time for the things that make you truly happy, you need to examine your priorities and make a change.

The good news is that being a workaholic is optional. You can take your life back if you want to.  If you’re a workaholic, you need to commit to making some changes. Your path might be different from mine, but I’ll share what helped me.

Start Setting Limits: Give yourself a cut-off time to leave work each day and try to give yourself at least one or two days off each week.

Reward Yourself:  Give yourself a reward for leaving work on time and sticking to your new boundaries.  Perhaps going out to dinner with your friends or your partner to enjoy the free time.  You will begin to really enjoy the downtime and your urge to work late will diminish.

Fill the Void: This is similar to a reward, but is more about long-term lifestyle changes. Find something meaningful and schedule it. It could be coaching your kid’s soccer team, leaning a new language, or taking up hiking. Whatever gets you excited.  Make it a part of your life and stick with it!

If you aren’t satisfied with your work/life balance, I hope you’re inspired to make a change. These are the tools and tips that worked for me, maybe they’ll work for you, or maybe you have some ideas that will work better.

I want to know, what works for you?   How do you find and keep balance?  Share your tips and comments.